Actuating tool for pipe grates



April 23, 1935. A. M. BACH ACTUATING TOOL FOR PIPE GRATES Original Filed June 6, 1932 INVENTOR. Mm 772. 73:106.

ATTORNE s.

j UNITED STATES Fatented Apr. 23, 1935 V I V 1,998,698

PATENT OFFICE ACTUATING Tool. FOR PIPE GRATES Anton M. Bach, Palo Alto, Calif.

- Original application June 6, 1932, Serial No. 615,554. Divided and this'application October 3, 1933, Serial No. 691,965

4 Claims (o1.131 1s) and D the smoke passage formed in the stem and in communication with the lower end of the particularly to a tool for inserting and removing.

the grate withrelation to'the bowl of the pipe.

The object of the present invention is to gen erally improve and simplify the construction and operation of pipe grates of the character describedand particularly the tool for inserting. and removing the grate; to provide a grate whichis' quickly insertable and removable when the pipe isto be cleaned; toprovide a grate which will prevent tobacco from entering the stem of the pipe and which will not clog even though the tobacco is tightly compressed or packed on top of the grate;

to provide a tool for inserting and removing the grate; "and further, to provide a tool whereby carbon deposits on the inner face of the bowl may be removed so as to permit insertion and removal of the grate.

The-invention is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a tobacco pipe partiallyin section, said section showing the grate inserted the bowl of the pipe.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan viewof the grate. Fig. 3 is a cross section of the grate taken on line IIIIII of-Fig. 2. r

.Fig. 4 is a side elevation partially in section of the tool for inserting and removing the grate,

said view showing the reaming and guiding plates.

removed;

Fig. 5 is. a side elevation of one of the reamer blades. M

Fig. 6 :is a side elevation of one of the guide blades.

Fig. 7 shows a screw whereby the reaming and. guiding blades are secured.

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the tool shown in Fig.:4, showingfthe reaming and guiding blades together with the securing screw removed;

Fig.9 is a side elevation in section similar to Fig;;'4, showing the reaming and guiding blades together with the securing screw in position.

Fig.10.;is a View similar toFig. 8, showing the reaming and guiding. blades and the securing screw in position; r

Referring. 'to the drawing in detail, A indicates the; head of a tobacco pipe, B'the bowl or chami.'ber formed therein, C the stem of the pipe,

top of the tobacco.

bowl. The pipe illustrated is of standard construction and is representative of most pipes commonly employed.

Inpipes of this character, the tobacco is packed inthe bowl and fills it from top to bottom, with the result that when the pipe is being smoked there is a tendency for the .tobacco to clog the entrance to the passage of the stem and there is also a. tendency for the finer particles of tobacco to enter and accumulate in the stem passage to finally cause clogging of thesarne. To prevent such clogging of the stem, and for other reasons which will later appear, a grate E is employed. The grate comprises a thin circular metal disc having adiameter to snugly fit the lower part of. the bowl. The grate may be punched or convex portion 2, an annular rib 3,.and a peripheral flange 4, in which is formed a plurality of openings or slots 5. The rib 3 may be half round "otherwise formed andis provided with a central in cross section, as shown, or of any other shape desired. The shape of the rib is not of great importance but its position adjacent to the. peripheral edge of the grate, together with the position of the slots 5, is important for the following reasons.

With the grate inserted'in the lower bowl por tion of the pipe, as shown in Fig. 1, it is 'only' necessary to fill the upper portion of the bowl with tobacco and tolight the same. The smoke produced will, during smoking, be drawn down .through the body of the tobacco and then pass through the slots 5 into the lower portion of the bowl, indicated at l, and will finally be drawn through the passage D of the stem into the mouth of the smoker.

not employed, the pipe draws heavy due to the tendency of the tobacco to clog the inner opening of the' stem. In fact, it is often necessary to entirelyremove the tobacco when this happens as it is almost impossible to obtain any suction or at least. sufiicient suction for a comfortable smoke. The provision of the grate E entirely eliminates this trouble regardless of whether the tobacco is tightly packed or not. For instance, if the bowl is filled with tobacco, it will rest on topof .the grate E and, if it is compressed, it is usually compressed byinserting the finger on The finger gradually exerts its greatest pressure on the central portion of the tobacco and the greatest iorce of compression is Many smokers have a habit of rather tightly compressing or packing the tobaccoin the bowl and, where a grate is exerted against the grate in the line indicated by the arrow a. The force exerted on the tobacco adjacent the peripheral edge of the grate will, however, be comparatively small and the tobacco will accordingly be fairly loosely packed in that area which overlies the annular rib 3 and the slots 5, and no matter how tightly the tobacco is packed or compressed the pipe Will always draw freely due to the fact that the compression is only slight at the points overlying the slots and, furthermore, due to the fact that several slots are provided.

The first function of the grate'is, accordingly, that of supporting the tobacco at a point ele; vated with relation to the inner end ofthe stem D, thus preventing the tobacco from clogging the smoke passage in the stem. The second time:v tion is that of permitting the tobacco to be tightly compressed or packed without creating an excessive suction on the part of the smoker. The third function is that of forming a chamber in the lower end of the bowl wherein partial cone. densation of the smoke may take place; that is, in actual practice it has been found that where a grate of this character is employed a considerable amount of tarry substance and nicotine ace cumulates in the bowl. This is desirable as it would otherwise condense and accumulate in the, stem proper and thus cause quick clogging of the same, but by condensing in the bowl where ample space is provided for its accumulation and at a point from where it may be readily removed, clogging by accumulation of tarry substance or nicotine is substantially prevented. The fourth function is that of partially cooling the smoke; that is, the grate is made of metal, which is a good conductor of heat, and as the hot smoke strikes the. grate it heats the same thus taking off more. or less. heat. The. grateis in tight contact with the sides of the bowl and as the. smoke heats the grate it is rapidly conducted to the bowl and is thus dissipated, hence the. grate. assists in cooling the smoke and it is fur-. thermore coo-led in the lower chamber l and in passing through the stem. The result is a. cool and pleasant smoke.

Where a grate is employed, as here illustrated, difficulty is encountered in removing the gratewhen it is desired to. clean the pipe, duefto. the fact that carbon tends to accumulate and build up on the inner surface. of the pipe. bowl as indi--. cated at 3. In view thereof, aspecial tool: has been provided for inserting and removing the. grate and for reaming or cutting away the. car: bon accumulations. The tool is best illustrated in Figs. 4 to 10. nating in a handle iii of suitable construction at one end, and a head member H at the opposite. end. The head is provided with, upper and lower annular shoulders I2 and M and with an annular intermediate groove l5. The-head is slotted, as indicated at 16, and centrally recessed, as shownat H, for the reception of a securing screw t8. Blades, such as shown at 5a and 6a, are insert-1 able in the slots Hi. and they are secured by: means of the screw 18. In. the present instance, six slots. are employed but the number provided mayv be greater or less. The blades shown at 5a and. 6a are alternately inserted in theslots. The blade 5a is a reaming blade and the blade 6a; a guide blade. The reaming blade, shown in Fig. 5, presents an outer cutting or reaming suriace !9, which terminates in a, point or key 20. It is. otherwise provided with an inner shoulder or lug. 2l:, the lower surface of which is. inclined, as.

It consists. of a shank a, tennis than the grate.

shown at 22, to form an interlock with the head of the screw l8. A similar lug No is formed on the guide blade, shown in Fig. 6, the outer surface We of this blade being smooth as it merely functions as a guide. Where six slots, such as shown at l6, are employed, there will be three reaming blades and three guide blades er a ly r n edhe ar nser ed. n the slot lfi with their cutting and guiding faces projecting outwardly and with the retaining lugs 2| and 2| an engaging the shank of the screw IS. The inner face of the screw I8 presents an inclined annular surface 23 and when this engages the slanting shoulders 22 of the respective blades an interlock is formed which centers and properly positions and secures the blades. The blades, when assembled and secured, being clearly shown in Fig. 9 and the blades, when removed, being shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The use of the tool will be as follows: If a. grate E has been inserted'in the pipe, as shown in Fig. 1, and the pipe has been smoked for some time, it will be found that there is a considerable ac-- cumulation of carbon on the inner face of the bowl, as indicated at. 8., hence making it difficult and almost impossible to remove the grate when the pipe is to be cleaned. In such instances the tool, shown in Figs. 4 to 10., will be employed. The head end containing the reaming and guide ing blades is inserted in the upper end of the bowl and rotated, and as it rotates the carbon is cut or reamed out. The reamer orcutting tool is worked inwardly until engagement is made, with the. grate. The points, or key extensions 2.. of the reaming blade will then enter the slots 5. and the. grate will be rotated, and if the pipe is held upside down, and a slight. outward poll is exerted, the. grate will come out. with the tool. After the grate has been removed the accumua lated tarry substance may be scraped out, the stem. cleaned, and so on, and the grate is re-in-- sorted byplacingit on the end of the tool in en. gagement with the key extensions 20 extending through the slots 5. With the grate thus ap plied to the tool, the pipe is held upside down and the tool inserted and when the bottom of the bowl is reached a. little pressure is appl ed to the tool and it is rotated one ormorev times. This causes the peripheral edge 1 of the grate to slightly out into the surface of the bowl and it is thus secured and retained; when the tool is removed.

In actual practice it will be understood that the cutting edges. of the reaming tools present a diameter a few thousandths less. than the outside diameter of the grate. This is essential as it is not desirable to ream away any of the wood of the pipe, nor to. produce an inside diameter larger Such increase in diameter would make it impossible tov reinsert and secure the grate. It is for this reason that the cutting edges presented are slightly less in diameter than. the outside diameter of the. grate. It will: also. be understood that the length of the blades, that is, both the reaming and. guiding blades, is suchas to maintain the tool vertically in the bowl while. the reaming operation is taking place.

Any topping or tilting during this operation From the foregoing it will be noted thatthe tool functions as a means for both inserting, securing and removing the grate. It is a small compact tool that can be readily carried in the pocket of a smoker and as such may also be used for tamping or packing the tobacco when smoking. This is a desirable feature as many pipe smokers are continuously using their index finger for this purpose, causing discoloration and often causing blistering of the point of the finger. By using the tool as a tamper or packer this can be entirely avoided. It is believed that the importance of arranging the holes or slots in the peripheral edge of the grate has been fully explained, but it might, nevertheless, be mentioned that if the holes were near the center of the grate, as is common in difierent types of pipe grates, the chances of clogging them are obvious. But by arranging them in the peripheral edge of the grate, or adjacent said edge, and furthermore, by providing the rib 3, the slots or openings are more or less guarded and as tight packingof the tobacco at this point is almost impossible a free drawing, non-clog pipe is insured.

While certain features of the present invention are more or less specifically described, I wish 7 it understood that various changes may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims. Similarly, that the materials and finish of the several parts employed may be such as the manufacturer may decide, or varying conditions or uses may demand.

Many pipe smokers are known as wet smokers. This is due to the fact that there is an over abundance of saliva, a portion of which drains down through the stem of the pipe and collects in the bottom of the bowl. If the bowl of the pipe is completely filled with tobacco from bottom to top, the lower portion becomes wet and saturated with saliva. The saturated tobacco burns with difficulty, if at all, and thereby causes a sour, strong unpleasant smoke. But by employing the grid here illustrated the tobacco is maintained at an elevation with relation to the bottom of the bowl and any collected saliva will not wet or saturate the same. completely smoked until only ashes remain on the rid and a sweet pleasant smoke is maintained until all the tobacco is consumed.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In combination with a bowl of a tobacco smoking pipe, a plate insertable in the bowl adjacent the bottom thereof, said plate forming a support for tobacco placed in the bowl and said plate having openings formed in its peripheral edge for the reception of a tool whereby the plate The tobacco placed in the bowl is thus is inserted and removed from the bowl and also to form smoke passages in the plate, a stem having a head member at one end and a handle at the opposite end, reaming blades on said head, andprojections on the head engageable with the openings in the plate for inserting and removing the plate. 7

2. A tool for reaming and cleaning the bowls of tobacco pipes comprising a stem having a handle on one end and a head member on the opposite end, a plurality of radially disposed slots formed in the head, said head also having a recess formed in its lower end and a longitudinally extending threaded passage, a plurality of reaming blades having downwardly inclined shoulders formed on their upper and inner ends, a screw extending into the threaded passage and a head on the screw'extending into the recess formed in the lower end of the tool head, the inner face of the tool head conforming to the upper end of the reaming blades so that said screw may clamp the blades'in the tool head and secure them against radial removal.

3. A tool for reaming and cleaning the bowls of tobacco pipes comprising a stem having a handle on one end and a head member on the opposite end, a plurality of radially disposed slots formed in the head, said slots terminating in horizontal flat shoulders at their upper ends, a plurality of reaming blades insertable onein each slot, each blade having a shoulder formed'on its upper and inner end, and a screw insertable in the head, said screw having a head engageable with the shoulders on the reamer blades to clamp the blades against the horizontal fiat shoulders formed at the upper ends of the slots and to secure the blades against radial movement with relation to the head.

4. A tool for reaming and cleaning the bowls of tobacco pipes comprising a stem having a handle on one end and a head member on the opposite end, a plurality of radially disposed slots formed in the head, said slots terminating in horizontal flat shoulders at their upper ends, a

plurality of reaming blades insertable one in each slot, each blade having a shoulder formed on its upper and inner end, and a screw insertable in the head, said screw having a head engageable with the shoulders on the reamer blades to clamp the blades against the horizontal fiat shoulders formed at the upper ends of the slots and to secure the blades against radial movement with relation to the head, said head also having an annular recess formed in its outer surface to collect material removed by the outer edges of the reaming blades.

ANTON M. BACH. 

